Aussie Tragedy

For sure you have heard this story before..

A hotel was built and successfully established by two people who came to love and cherished each other and at the end married. The hotel was a fruit of their labor as a lawyer and a doctor.

As a fruit of their love, they were blessed with two healthy children. Let us call them by pseudonyms of Sonny as the eldest (boy) and Zenny (girl) the younger.

They were having a good life with their profession within the city which they chose to live. The hotel they built was also a picture of success as it was competent as the other establishments and was helping its staffs.

First Tragedy, Killer Quake Baguio City

On July 16,1990 a great disaster struck which almost took the lives of their children.

The earth quaked madly resulting for houses, bridges, mountains and buildings to crumble and fall. Their 10-storey hotel was not exempted by the destruction. It fell to the ground like some soft sand castle by the sea shore.

After the quake, the father of the family whom we will just call by another pseudonym of Mark hurriedly drove to where their hotel was. It was also where they lived.

He was thunderstruck of what was before him. Their fruit of labor for years as husband and wife was gone in an instant. It plainly turned into piles of rubble.

However, that wasn't what was more important as for the moment. Their children just came home from school and for sure they're inside the building when the earth shook.

He kept shouting and calling for his son and daughter's name..

"Sonny!!"

"Zenny!!!"

"Where are you? Daddy's here for the rescue!! Shout so I may know where you are!!"

From that moment in time many are running and fleeing from buildings to the open space at the road. Buildings were still collapsing.

From out of nowhere, a voice called out from the crowd in the street. A child's voice.

"Daddy!"

It was Zenny!

She was crying in the arms of an elderly woman who was hugging and comforting her. Before the building was to collapse this woman, a vegetable vendor saw her and pulled her to herself to safety at the road. Mark went to them and hugged his daughter.

"Where's your brother Zen?" He asked.

"He's still inside, dad. He was going inside the bathroom when the first tremor struck!" The girl answered in between sobs.

The father's attention was divided into two. He was going to stay with his daughter to console or look for his son among the piles of boulders. He chose the latter. So he left Zenny with the woman with words to look after her daughter for the moment as he will try to look for his son.

Mark hurriedly went straight to the hotel-turned-rubbles and called out for his son's name. He climbed through the mountains of boulders. Though he was not used in treading this kind of terrain but for the love of a father to his son he carried on. Risking his own life.

A father's love conquers all. Though we see them as strict and less expressive in showing their emotions, yet the love is there.

Slowly, he conquered his fear of the unknown because one wrong move and the boulders would collapse and caused more havoc. Abled men came to help with the search and rescue because rescuers those time were designated to some other areas.

Unnoticed, a night had already passed on their on going operation. Policemen and rescuers were already there. A police officer advised Mark to take a rest and let them do the task. He promised him that they'll do everything to look for the child. But a parent who knew his child was at risk can't sit in peace, his feelings remained disturbed.

He sat dreary yet he answered the officer that he won't get out of the location without his son. Thus, he asked the Lord for strength.

"SOOOONNNYYY!!!" He shouted

"WHERE ARE YOU? THIS IS DADDY, GIVE ME A SIGN THAT YOU'RE STILL ALIVE!"

The police officers silenced everyone so that they may be able to hear the slightest of sounds from the rubble.

"Sonnyyy...!" Mark again shouted.

A small voice came from nowhere. From a pipe maybe. "Dadddyy.."

It seemed like the voice was sandwiched in between those debris. It was crying..

Mark bravely scavenged thru the debris and pulled his son from the rubbles where his foot was stuck.

The 45 seconds of 7.8 magnitude earth quake took what the couple had invested with millions of their money.

A new beginning

It was devastating for the whole family with what happened to their home and business. However, the man of the family, Mark took it as a challenge. He continued schooling in his chosen profession so that he may qualify with the same profession abroad. He passed the examination and not long they settled in Sydney. He was able to successfully set up a law firm and worked as an immigration lawyer.

Their children continued their studies in the strange place where they will start anew.

Zenny was the typical studious girl. No hanging around after school, school-home was her routine. She directly go straight to the attic where they were studying and read her books.

Sonny, on the other hand was influenced by his bad peers. He eventually learned how to smoke, get drunk and get home late in the evening. He seldomly or even stopped reading his books. He only got home to take a bath and change clothes.

He took medical science but withrew after two years. He enrolled in law at a different university but was really performing poorly with his studies and was at risk of expulsion. He covered up his wrongs by falsifying his grades.

The tragedy (not for the faintest of hearts)

Sonny, as usual came home late at night from one of his drinking spree on July 10 of 2001. He found his family at a very dreadful state.

His father was lying right in the living room with a pool of his own blood. His body was mutilated with multiple stab wounds to his neck, chest, back and abdomen. And because he was a man that there were defensive wounds declaring he tried to fight off his attacker.

His mother, Faith was also at the kitchen. Dead. She received the same stab wounds from the assailant. Multiple stab wounds on her face, neck, chest and abdomen. Her windpipe was completely transvered postmortem.

The little sister at the attic received the worst affliction. Her head was nearly disfigured resulting from multiple blunt force injuries, a sign of strangulation and multiple stomach knife wounds.

On one of the walls inside the house, "FUCK OF ASIANS" was spray painted.

Sonny hysterically went out of the house after finding his family in a very horrifying state. He frantically went to their neighbors house to ask for help.

When the police arrived, he was out of words to tell because he just arrived after dropping his friend to his house after they came from one of the bars in town.

...to be continued if readers suggest to..

Apologies... I was supposed to edit this and add more details but then maybe I was still half conscious earlier that I tap the delete button. Second part will be posted tomorrow. Again, I'm sorry.

z_graeden